


A Folly of Crows

by tmo



Series: A Song of Snow and Flames [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fantasy, Inspired by Game of Thrones, M/M, Miscarriage, Politics, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:33:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26397217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmo/pseuds/tmo
Summary: Obito found himself in giving away another person's child. These were the reasons why, the things that led him to betraying his family and unknowingly his country.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Nohara Rin/Uchiha Obito
Series: A Song of Snow and Flames [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509692
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	A Folly of Crows

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the second installment of my A Song of Snow and Flames series!  
> For those of you who don't know, I wrote a fic a few years ago called Game of Thorns, a Game of Thrones inspired fic which this one fills in some unanswered questions that many readers had. 
> 
> Do you need to read GoT before this one? Not necessarily but I highly suggest it if you haven't since these events preceed and coincide with GoT.
> 
> The third installment of this series will be coming shortly in the year once I've finished this one.
> 
> WARNING: there are mentions of Mpreg, miscarriages and descriptions of violence.
> 
> This story is Obi-centric. This story isn't going to be happy. This story is the follies of a person trying to do good.

In the beginning, he had been apprehensive, to say the least. Having a girl promised to you when you're six doesn't have as much impact and seems more like a life sentence.

As he grew older though, he found that having a bride as a child wasn't such a bad thing. She was always there even when she didn't want to be. She had his back when he got into fights with the townsfolk and she always complimented his clothes even though he had fought his mother valiantly about them that morning.

She had become his best friend over the years. They had grown into each other's lives and when they started working together, it felt only natural.

They travelled from city to city, village to village. Together, they brought information from one place to another and met with other city representatives to discuss partnerships and trade deals. They both met with hundreds of people, all under the watchful eye of his family.

"The Hyuga are overstepping their boundaries to the South again," Fugaku would worry and the others would just smile and say they'd send more soldiers, people that Obito would escort to the southern capital.

At the time, he hadn't thought much of the trip. Not until Fugaku brought him riding into the desert.

"Obito. I need your complete and utter honesty." They were moving through the sands, the hot wind ruffling through their hair as Obito nodded faintly.

"Yes, of course, your highness," He said in all honesty to his distant uncle.

"Have your heard anything within the clan that would imply doubt in me?"

The kind turned his head, eyes worried and seeking a truth that Obito didn't know.

"I... I don't think so." That seemed to not be what the king wanted to hear and Obito quickly explained, "I don't know, I mean... I haven't exactly been listening for that kind of talk."

When the king didn't respond, Obito offered without a second thought, "I can keep an ear open, listen to what they say."

"And who says it." Fugaku stared Obito down, a man who was visibly worried.

"Of course.” That his life was suddenly split into three.

On one side, he was the dutiful Uchiha who acted as a loyal dog for every branch of his family. On the other, he was a spy, listening to every word that sounded the least bit disloyal to the current king. He became an informer, a collector of information from all parts of the kingdom. As he travelled from the West to the East, he kept his ears open and related any information at all to his Majesty.

Things were quiet in the land, but as the years went on, the whispers grew louder until they were no longer whispers. They became outward discussions at the table of higher man over dinners that Obito was invited to join. Talk came from lords and ladies from all over and eventually, from his own family.

The last part of him, the small part that housed his true feelings and worries, was kept secret and hidden away with the only person he truly trusted in this world.

Rin knew just as much as he did, joining him at every dinner and acting as his confidante. She had become more than his best friend. She was his only ally in the world.

And he’d fallen in love with her.

He was cold, standing out in the rain of the village he grew up in.

She was crying in front of him, tears streaming down her face without any sound. He only knew they were tears and not rain was because he had seen them trickle down her face inside their home.

She was young. So was he. They had been married officially for two years now.

“I’m sorry,” She said, words veiled by the rain and an indifference he could see right through.

“You should come back inside,” He urged. “The doctor said you should rest.”

Obito went to take Rin’s hand but she flinched away, pulling her arms into her chest in unwarranted fear as she whimpered, “I’m sorry.”

She was frightened and he saw that, horrified that she felt that way towards him. The eastern winds from the sea were whipping and growing colder with the coming fall.

With a gentle touch to her shoulder, he pleaded, “Come back inside.”

At the kitchen table of the small home they shared, they sat at a corner, eyes on the floor. There were no words they could find to talk about, they just avoided looking at each other and the mess of sheets falling from their bed that had been stained red.

The dripping of rain falling off their clothes was piercing and Obito reached forward to break the trance they’d fallen under. Taking her hands in his carefully, he assured, “It’s not your fault. Not this time. Not the last.”

With memories darkening here eyes, Rin almost pulled away but Obito kept her grounded. “We just have to keep trying.”

Again, the tears bubbled over and she crumpled into his arms. Her sobs broke every piece of his heart and he knew what she was going to say before she could even speak again. He’d seen her go through this too many times. All the blood, the sadness; it was too much. They couldn’t go through the pain of watching her belly grow only to have their efforts fall all too short.

That had been the third miscarriage and there had been two stillbirths before then.

“I can’t anymore,” She managed through the pain and all he could do was hold her close with every inch of strength he had while they both cried.

Their relationship from there on slowed to a stop. Whatever love or affection that had been building between them ground down to a halt and it left a deep hole in its wake. They still cared for each other and maybe even still loved each other but the heavy feelings hanging around their heads was blinding.

Travelling helped soothe their aches and gave plenty of distraction. From the East to the West, they went between cities and towns to deliver messages or escort members of their family. It kept them busy, thoughts away from children and focusing on politics that were growing tenser.

It was for a meeting with the king, on their way to Hokori that things became more complicated. They were escorting back a lord from the West, a lord who Obito didn’t know too well. This man was a part of the second branch though and he paid well. He owned one of the many fiefs His Highness had granted, a lord who stayed quiet and paid his taxes like any other man. And just like any other lord of the Uchihas, he brought with him a bodyguard.

“My Lord,” Inabi said at the start of his tent, his careful eye keeping watch which was expected for a guard. Obito and Rin perked up from their papers and held no suspicion when the sharp man said, “Lord Madara requests your presence.”

Minutes later, Obito was sitting in Lord Madara’s lavish tent, gratefully taking the cup of tea offered to him. “Thank you, My Lord.”

“It’s my pleasure,” The older man said as he sat down across the small table, careful to smooth down his shirt. His clothes were rich colours of red and purple, his wealthy showing in every bit of him. He was calm, composed. Every inch of him spoke of experience, knowledge and power. “Your services are greatly appreciated in these times. My men and I aren’t so familiar with the paths and we fear falling prey to bandits or losing ourselves in the woods.”

“I’m always glad to help,” Obito said as he casually sipped his tea, thankful for the time away from Rin.

“You’ve worked for the family for a long time.”

“For quite a while, yes. Ever since I was of age to work,” Obito recalled.

“You began with your parents, I remember.” When Obito’s expression faded, Madara quickly said, “Forgive me, I only speak of their memory with fondness.”

“Of course.” Obito nodded, wondering why this apparently well-travelled man was bringing up his dead parents.

“They were good people,” Madara commented off the edge of his cuff as he sipped and Obito sat up straighter.

“Pardon me, My Lord. You knew my parents?” Obito asked as he thought back to his parents and what he could remember about them.

“Of course,” The lord chuckled, slowly putting down his cup elegantly. “They used to deliver mail to me for many years. They were such a great pair.”

“They were?” Obito leaned in curiously as he thought to his own marriage and Madara chuckled at his eagerness.

“There wasn’t a better pair. Their marriage was celebrated by most of the kingdom. It was a small wedding though. They were a humble couple,” Madara explained as he sat back in his seat, mind going back in time that Obito was all too interested in learning about.

“Were you at their wedding?” Obito asked hopefully.

With his hands in his lap and his head tilted back into his thoughts, the elderly man murmured nostalgically, “It was a beautiful ceremony. So many flowers and the dinner was divine.”

“Was it?” Obito urged. “You must have been very close to them.”

“I’d like to think I was. We used to always have dinner when they brought me messages. They once brought this amazing wine from the South that they somehow got from the Hyuuga. Before the troubles with them started.” Madara spoke eloquently, talking about Obito’s parents and telling stories Obito had never heard. His grandmother never spoke of them and Obito could never ask. Her pain was so obvious whenever he’d bring them up.

Apparently, they were an amazing pair of messengers to the kingdom. They’d travelled far and wide between almost every dominion and they’d often stay in one of Madara’s many homes across the land. With the goal of unity, they tried creating peace wherever they went and Obito listened to any story Madara would tell about them as they rode from the West to Hokori.

“They are part of the reason I wish to speak with the king,” Madara mentioned one day as they stopped to eat.

“How so, My Lord?”

Madara looked at him, studying Obito as if trying to find something before he said slowly, “The world is in disarray, my boy, and peace will only come if we try to forge those bonds.”

Perhaps it was Obito’s innocent frown of confusion that had Madara chuckle and try to explain.

“If we have more allies with the rest of the land, the Hyuuga will have to speak with us and that will give us a chance to make peace,” Madara explained calmly but Obito still didn’t understand his reasoning.

“What if they don’t wish to speak? They seem like a very violent tribe after what happened with the Umino clan.” Obito didn’t know much about the Hyuuga other than that, to be frank. The furthest South he’d ever gone was to Hokori. No one ever dared go further after the Umino were slaughtered, not even to the village they once occupied.

“If they wish to behave like savages, we'll treat them as such,” Madara said easily and he didn’t notice when Obito walked off in surprise.

It was an odd thing to admire a man yet not know much about him at all. Obito didn’t know what exactly to think of Lord Madara and he didn’t know what his true intentions were. He didn’t know if the King liked this man or if he was another one of the men Obito had to look out for. There was an air of peace around him and a sense of honour that Obito found in King Fugaku as well.

Which was probably why there were so many people Obito saw come and go over their travels, seeking Lord Madara’s advice which was always steeped in wisdom and consideration. His reputation seemed to be that of an old man with a good head on his shoulders and that was what drew others to him. Obito didn't put two and two together at the time that it was similar to having an audience with the king but on a smaller scale, an imitation.

His comments about the Hyuuga felt threatening though and he worried about that. That fear didn't last long though.

It was after a scream in the middle of the night that Obito jolted up. He ran out into the fire-lit night to find figures rushing through the camp and just barely managed to pull out his sword when another swung at his head. With a trained flick of his wrist, Obito spun around and disarmed his attacker. A slash later, he was standing over a body. Fear ran through him for just a moment until he realized there were other bodies and fights coming to an end.

Minutes later, he still stood over one of the fallen men as the others in the group cleaned up and went back to bed as if nothing had ever happened. Obito couldn't stop staring at the mark of this man's forehead though, the crossing slashes that looked like burns.

"The mark of Hyuuga servants." Madara was next to him, speaking so easily as if that had happened many times before, "Unsurprising, they are opportunistic folk."

From then on, Obito didn't doubt Madara’s words about the Hyuuga. How could they brand their own? How could they think they could just attack an old man because he was far from home? Why couldn't they just stick to their vast lands to the South? The Umino attack made much more sense as time went on. So did all the other fights and quarrels between his family and the Hyuuga.

When they had an audience with King Fugaku, Madara mentioned what had happened as one of the many reasons to support his idea.

"Their fire is beginning to spread further North and I fear their chaos, to be quite frank," Madara said with a dark laugh. Fugaku looked to Obito while Madara was distracted. Obito simply nodded, a motion he made without a second thought.

"And what do you propose to tame them? Find a common ground with them?" Fugaku asked suspiciously, ever the critical as he should be.

With a deep breath as the hall went quiet around them, Madara pulled up his head and said so confidently, "I suggest we find allies to bring us all together, for we are stronger in voice if there are more of us."

"We have many friends." His Majesty was about to wave Madara away but the lord didn't flinch.

"Friends, yes. But we lack brethren. Allies who would fight for families as they have in the past. Battle of Mana Pass. The Fjords. Even right outside our doorstep in the Valley of the Fathers." Those were the famous battles and conflicts that hooked Fugaku into Madara’s spell. He then had the same gut reaction Obito did, to trust and hope that Madara’s words held worth.

"I suggest The Fangs."


End file.
